Schools of thought: a yearning for learning sweeps the capital

Something strange is happening in London. To call it an intellectual revolution would be too strong, but you might say it’s a war against the boxset. Londoners, instead of flobbing out in front of the telly after work, are rising up to learn Latin, or chess, or the ukulele. They are hungry for skills and knowledge, and, despite the recession, will happily shell out to be lectured.

The phenomenon is particularly noticeable among affluent professionals. They have used their first education to build up a career; now they want a second one for themselves. After years of drinking and partying, they wonder if there’s more they could do with their leisure time. We all know about eating healthily and going to the gym, but how many of us exercise our synapses properly?

The brain is like a muscle that needs regular use. Research has shown that not only should the brain be exercised but it should also be challenged: trying a new skill or being forced to reconsider a long-held belief will open new neural pathways, which encourages brain activity and growth. A report last year by the Department for Business, Industry and Skills found that adult education is even more rewarding than having a job, and gives more than twice as much self-confidence. ‘It is quite clear that adult learning has its greatest impacts in the domain of health and mental health,’ it concluded.

And where there’s demand, supply follows. Next month sees the launch of the How To: Academy, a West London-based school for adults and teenagers seeking to brush up their life skills. It is the brainchild of

John Gordon, who co-founded Intelligence Squared, the debating society that has gone global. He has teamed up with two friends, Paul Keegan (an editor) and Frances Wilson (a writer and lecturer), to create what they describe as a ‘unique educational initiative’.

But while their courses may be new, the How To: Academy is part of a growing trend in self-improvement as social entertainment. It began five years ago when the philosopher Alain de Botton launched The School of Life, which offers ‘life MOTs’. He was followed by The Idler Academy, an offshoot of the periodical of the same name started by writer and editor Tom Hodgkinson. In 2011 came the Darling Collective, which describes itself as ‘an online boutique for things to do’. Then there’s The Amazings, an online resource showcasing older people who can impart particular skills. The Amazings owes a lot to TED, the global organisation that promotes thinking and better understanding of ideas through talks and lectures. Both offer a burst of original thought to busy people in a manageable, bite-size package — an intellectual hit, if you like.

So how are the existing academies reacting to news of a rival? I find Hodgkinson puffing on a rollie in the courtyard behind The Idler Academy in Westbourne Park Road. Founded two and half years ago, it occupies a shop space in a quiet part of Notting Hill, and sells books and coffees. In the evenings, the shop is used for creative writing lessons, philosophy lectures and supper clubs. The vibe is informal and quirky. Perhaps surprisingly, he welcomes the How To: Academy. ‘The fact it’s starting augurs well for this kind of thing,’ he says. ‘Alain pioneered it, and we did our Idler version of it, and now there’s another one starting. It’s going to be like Ancient Athens,’ he laughs, ‘with all the various competing schools dotted around — the Stoics, the Sophists, the Epicureans.’

There are clear differences between the academies — The School of Life is perhaps more serious, and focuses on therapy and issues such as work and families. But there’s a healthy competition between them. ‘I do detect a bit of rivalry, in a friendly way, with Alain,’ says Hodgkinson. ‘But we are different: The Idler has a slightly anarchic ethos underneath it, whereas Alain’s courses are more therapeutic, like how to get a better job.’ He readily admits that de Botton was first with the idea, and describes The School of Life as ‘definitely an inspiration’. In fact, Hodgkinson was initially involved with it, and gave the first ‘Sunday Sermon’, a non-religious Sunday morning lecture given in Conway Hall Ethical Society’s HQ in Holborn. Regularly pulling in over 200 attendees, this event recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and The School of Life is exporting its model worldwide. ‘Turkey, Canada and Australia are all very interested,’ says co-founder Harriet Warden. ‘We may well be opening a branch in Australia next.’

The Idler Academy started three years ago with a pop-up at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall, a boho-chic weekend of music and talks favoured by young Notting Hill families, held in the grounds of the Earl of St Germans’ fairy-tale castle. ‘It was like a traditional, anti-progressive school,’ he recalls. ‘I wore a mortar board, we had 20 or 30 talks and it was really busy. Then we did it at Wilderness festival and the same thing happened. I remember a lecture on Greek philosophers at 11am on a Saturday — you’d expect it to be completely empty but it was packed. That told us people loved it, so we jumped to doing it full-time.’

What the academies have in common is a social element. Hodgkinson says: ‘One of the most successful things we do is a supper club: you have a chef who’s got a book out doing the cooking, and you get 40 people together, some single, some in a group.’ He says he has a gang of regular customers who met through the academy and are now friends, which he says is one of the great satisfactions. ‘You get ten to 15 people coming to do a thing, and when it finishes, they want to carry on, because they like the group thing. But people do also really learn and find it therapeutic. Obviously, if you’re doing a lesson about Socrates and the Epicureans, you’re thinking about your own life as well. The people who come are often at some kind of turning point. So they want to retreat from what they’re doing, and explore a different way of thinking.’